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Showing posts with label markets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label markets. Show all posts

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Carmel Farmer's Market

Summer's Bounty in America's Heartland


We headed out early to try to
beat the heat but I think it
had been hot all night.


It is the height of summer
here in the American Midwest.


Everyone is up and out bright
and early to get the best produce.


"Weekend Chefs" are planning
their menus.


If your keep your ears open
you can pick up some
great recipes.


Remember to pick up some
flowers for the table.


I bought the lovely golden
plums.  They were delicious!


I got some cabbage for
the potstickers tonight.


A few small eggplants
for a layered ratatouille.


The cantaloupe smelled heavenly.


It's great to see that family farms
still exist.  These kids were all
working hard.  They probably were
up before dawn picking all that corn
and then had a few hour drive to the
market.  I had it for lunch, my first
local corn of the season, and it
was fabulous!

It's good to be home.



Saturday, June 18, 2011

Chatuchak Market ~ Bangkok

The Largest Outdoor Market


The Chatuchak Market is a sprawling
market in Bangkok that covers 27 acres.


It is a weekend market where
you can find everything, even
the drinks were interesting.


My heart went out to this little
old lady, she was one of the
sellers!  She had some cough
drops and candy in a little plastic
bag.  It was so hot and she was
struggling with every step.
She was still smiling though...


I could have taken home half of
 this booth of celadon pottery.


The cakes looked great but
in this heat who wants a cupcake?


These were tiny fruits like ones
you would put in a doll house.


This lady was preparing a wide
range of interesting dishes.


We really live in a flip
flop world these days.


This guy had feather dusters
around one shoulder that made
him look like he was wearing
them and beautiful bundles
of peacock feathers in his
other hand.  Now that should
be a challenge on Project Runway!


Durian Fruit.
It is an asian delicacy, some say
it smells of almonds, I say it smells
of death.  There are hotels and
hospitals that ban the fruit.


These are toppings for ice cream!
I saw a guy go for the corn, red bean
and sticky rice trifecta...
Num-num.



Thursday, June 16, 2011

In Love in Cairo

History & Shopping


While visiting Cairo I was
able to experience two things
I love ~ history & shopping.
We were happy to find the
Egyptian Museum in very good
shape after the Revolution.  We
had heard news reports of
destruction but we found it
in remarkably good condition.


Especially when you consider this
photo I took from the museum
garden of the government
building next door.


The Museum has a vast collection
of ancient artifacts.  I guess I'm used
to museums with high tech security
and display cases with humidity
 controls, etc.  This place looks like
Howard Carter found Tut's tomb,
some wood & glass cases were
built and things haven't been touched
since.  It was charming and gave
such a sense of history.


On the second floor is the
collection of artifacts from the
tomb of the boy king, Tutankhamun.
King Tut's tomb was the only one
to be found mostly intact, there is
speculation that there were a few
minor grave robbers soon after burial,
but then it was undisturbed until
found by Howard Carter in the
early 20th century.
We had quite a tutorial on the
"soap opera" lives of the Ancients.
Did you know King Tut's Step Mother
was Nefertiti?  Who was also his
Mother-in-Law?...


The other love?  That would
be shopping.  No, not in a mall,
but in the souq.  I must confess,
after this photo was taken I broke
a Mommy Rule and lost my kid
in the souq.  I realize he is almost
18 but I still worried.


Sadly, the Egyptian economy
suffered a loss that day due to my
losing track of Brennan.  I was ready
 to buy but was too distracted to
 pay much attention to the things for
sale.  I did pick up a delicious
 turquoise pashmina though.


As for Brennan?  He was hanging
out in the right cafe, at the right
time,  just as we had planned.


Saturday, March 5, 2011

Travel Tales: Saturday Market in Fuengirola, Spain

Rastro de Sabado


On a Saturday morning in southern
Spain we decided to do what we love
best ~ wander through a market.
We heard tales of the Saturday market
in Fuengirola and zipped up the coast
along the A-7 coastal road.  Thankfully, Rob
is a great driver in Spain and I can put it
all in his hands.  The A-7 is known as one
of the most dangerous in Europe,  you drive
for maybe a quarter mile and then have
a roundabout, over and over.  Then you exit
into one of the villages and have streets that
I call mirror-scrapers, no street used for cars
should be that narrow.  We had no idea where
the feria (fairground) was but drove through
the streets and when we gave up we just
parked down by the beach and decided to
walk around.  We found out the market was
just a few blocks up from the beach so we
left the car in one hour parking and headed
to the feria.


Once we were in the market we realized
this is bigger than we expected.  The
market stretched as far as the eye could
see and this was only one lane of maybe
five or six.  After a while, Rob decided
he had better go back and move the car
since we were going to be here awhile.


I rarely get to be completely alone
when I'm traveling.  It was fun to
interact with the vendors ~ Spanish
men are very flirtatious with a woman
who is alone, whether they are 18 or 85.
The plan with Rob was he would move
the car and come back to the market and we
would meet at the end of the first lane.
When I got to end I got a drink and
waited, and waited in the hot sun.  Finally
Rob spotted me, he had returned and went
to our meeting spot and I wasn't there
(it took time to negotiate with the flirting
Spanish men) he was worried and started
looking for me.  Now all was well and we
went exploring...


This is a huge market that sells
a bit of everything.  There are
ex-pats selling antiques from their
home countries, fruit and veg, knock-off
purses, furniture, part car boot sale, decor
items, piles of dirty old clothes, ancient
household appliances, not vintage, just old.
As you walk along you pass people with
wheelbarrows filled with clementines and
the scent is delicious ~ it is the smell
of Spain.


We picked up some old
candleholders from Portugal
since our rental didn't have any
and we must dine by candlelight.


A lantern for late nights
on our terrace.


A salt container that is in my
kitchen at home and I look at everyday.


My favorite purchases were
these additions to my
alarm clock collection.
This one even says Malaga,
a city on the Costa del Sol.


I purchased this clock from a little
 old Spanish man who kept assuring
me that it worked and he kept
winding the clock.  I couldn't come
up with the correct words in Spanish
to tell him I couldn't take something
that "ticks" on the plane...

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Vienna, Austria

Overwhelmed by Beauty


Oh Vienna!  How can one describe your beauty?



Around every corner is another stunning view.



Do the residents every take this for granted?


Can this ever be thought of as ordinary?


The Christmas Market at the City Hall.

Schonbrunn Palace...



...and its Christmas Market.




We ended our day with a stroll through the Nacht Markt.


This is where I would shop for our evening meals if I lived in Vienna.